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Monday, June 10, 2019

Blockchain and You, the Teacher

Hello teachers, and Happy Summer! Perhaps now is a good time to take a break from the stress of endless detail. I thought I would take an opportunity here to share a buzzword with you: Blockchain. It's been associated with Cryptocurrency, another buzzword you probably haven't had time to read about.Much like a teacher wants to see their students "showing their work", a blockchain is simply a ledger of records, but it's very hard to hack, and keeps track of transactions between people. Imagine if a single paper dollar that you spend at the grocery store could somehow be kept track of. Soon there would be a long line of who received that dollar in change, when the next person spent that dollar, what it was spent on, and where it was spent. Now, think about education and the various methods of record keeping that are part of a student's history through our schools. Exams, report cards, diplomas, transcripts, all of which can be electronically verified in a secure way. I'm returning today to the TCEA Technotes blog. Andrew Roush has a very informative article for teachers who may be unfamiliar with a technology that could transform the way we document a student's ongoing education. Imagine a world without fake online courses, without faked transcripts, without faked certifications. Your students' efforts after graduation will not be diluted by people who want their credentials without work. You may read Mr. Roush's article here.